Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[RedRidge]

 

 
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I totally agree, however if you have access to goat milk or ore willing to supplement  with high quality calf-milk replacer, it's very doable.  As always...JMHO
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Don't fear the 'High Quality' replacers...just do not go cheap.  or Sheep   Most of the better beef farmers around here supplement they calves.  Now you Heritage chicken folk, please do not get into an up-roar.

But it seems that the better quality beef these guys breed, the less milk the cows have to feed to the calves.  So...Beef is more valuable than the cost of ...again now,...  'High Quality Replacer'.

Some use goat milk replacer....Perhaps I might have suggested it...

ROFL... hellbender we have GOT to get you a dexter. LOL

 

[colburg]

Quote:
Don't go Sheep. Bwahahahaha That's nice to konw on the High Q Replacer. Stories abound around here of bottle fed calves being smaller and pot-bellied when full-grown and not worth raising to take to the sale. Knowing some of the ranchers around, it may be the cheap milk replacer they are using.

 

[NYREDS]

NYREDS... does John Hayes still have wyandotte bantams? I think I remember him having blacks and golden laced... though I'm not sure about silver laced. He's in New York state though jpranch. I know its not right next door but... we'll see if NYREDS responds.

I think that Duane Urch is in your neck of the woods. I don't know if he has these birds or not. I'm sure someone has a link to his operation and can post it for you.

Are there others?

The only birds John has anymore are a half dozen Andalusians. He had many Wyandotte Bantam varieties over the years but the Partridge was the only variety he always had & I have his Partridge now. There are a number of good Bantam Wyandotte Bantam breeders in the country. I'm at work now & don't have my address book but I'll post some suggestions later.

 

[RedRidge]

Quote:
Don't go Sheep. Bwahahahaha That's nice to konw on the High Q Replacer. Stories abound around here of bottle fed calves being smaller and pot-bellied when full-grown and not worth raising to take to the sale. Knowing some of the ranchers around, it may be the cheap milk replacer they are using.

When I raised 300 bottle lambs a year I brought my milk relaxer in by the ton from Canada because the quality of the milk replacer here was so poor. Feeding it free choice at room temp is the key... No gorging and no bloating (and they consume less).

 

[Arielle]

Sorry, but I'm old fashioned , and I prefer that my birds have fresh waster once a day in the winter, and 3x a day in the summer. May I suggest that you people drink, and taste some of your 2-3 day old water that your birds are subjected to when using nipples, or ball waterers? Not nice.

Add vinegar, esp unpasurized ACV-- many of my birds have choices as they free range and do drink the acidilated water as it stays fresh.

 

[bnjrob]

I think those will work for chicks, but I would NOT use those for older birds. I tried that last year and I don't think they were ever able to get enough water. Tossed that in the trash.

Sorry to hear that it didn't work for yours. Been using nipples for all ages of chickens for a few years without any probs here. I don't go by the guidelines that some of the sites say that one nipple can be used for a ton of chickens though. I put multiple nipples into the bottom of buckets and hang them both inside and outside and most of the time there is at least one nipple per chicken available at all times.

 

[Arielle]

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What???????? I always keep a bag in the freezer-- just in case . . .

 

[bnjrob]

They work great for adult chickens.
I noticed mine stopped letting water out so poked a hole in the top of the bottle...then it worked as it should have lol.

Yep, you need to have some airflow or it will create a vacuum after a little bit. I don't have this problem with my buckets because I don't completely fit down the airtight lids onto the buckets, otherwise the lids are so hard to get off again, but I do poke a hole in the bottom of soda bottles when I put a nipple into the cap of the bottle.

 

[bnjrob]

Sorry, but I'm old fashioned , and I prefer that my birds have fresh waster once a day in the winter, and 3x a day in the summer. May I suggest that you people drink, and taste some of your 2-3 day old water that your birds are subjected to when using nipples, or ball waterers? Not nice.

In warm weather our chickens get fresh water daily, plus I have insulation on my buckets and throw ice bottles into them during summer so the water is cool and fresh. In cooler weather they get their water buckets changed out about every other day. Of course ours get apple cider vinegar in their water so that changes the flavor of the water anyway and also keeps slime buildup WAY down. Before I started adding the vinegar, there was a slimey feeling inside the watering buckets after just 24 hours even though I couldn't see anything there.

With as many chickens and pens as we have, no way I could change water three times a day or that is all I would be doing all day. We have somewhere around a dozen large pens that we move around several acres of pasture with more pens being built.

 

[colburg]

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If you google A2/A2 milk, you'll find tons of information. But the quick synopsis is, there are 2 types of beta-casein, A1 and A2. This is the same casein that's talked about in gluten-free casein-free diets, and is what causes the intolerance in lactose intolerant people. The research shows that A1 milk is the "potential" cause of a whole host of ailments, diabetes, Crohns, etc. A2 milk is supposed to prevent or potentially cure those ailments(not too sure about "cure" in this statement). Lots of foreigners say that American milk makes them sick, and it's been linked to the A1 milk produced by Holsteins. Some say it also causes a different taste in the milk. All goats and human mama's breast milk is A2. That's why kids that are lactose intolerant do good when breast feeding and on goats milk, but not on store bought cows milk(My wife was one of these kids). She also claims that storebought milk has a funny taste, but loves our fresh milk. Like I said, there's lots of info out there. You'll have to read for yourself and maybe future research will prove one way or the other.